nola.com8%
Bertha expected to make landfall as tropical storm, New Orleans under storm watch 3%
By Marco Cartolano2%
7/21/2026, 12:35:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 6 faulty reasoning types, including Overconfidence Bias, Anchoring Bias, and Framing Effect, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 14.6% saturation with 53 hits. Analysis detected 142 faulty-reasoning hits from 364 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 13% and a BS Rank of 3% (21,428 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 97.90% of the article peer group.
The New Orleans area was under a tropical storm watch early Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Bertha headed towards southeast Louisiana.
After becoming the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Bertha strengthened overnight to speeds of 50 mph as it moved northwest through the Gulf.
It is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm near Plaquemines Parish by Wednesday afternoon, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said.
The New Orleans area could see gusty winds associated with Bertha as early as Tuesday evening.
Starting Wednesday, parts of southeast Louisiana could see minor to moderate coastal flooding, and some localized flash flooding in urban areas, according to the National Weather Service’s New Orleans office.
Forecasters expect the bulk of the rainfall and wind to occur to the south of the storm’s center, thanks to the wind shear impacting the storm and giving it an asymmetrical shape.
“This should keep the greatest impact across the Gulf, but will also mean that if the storm tracks farther north, some of the more impactful weather will move onshore,” Christopher Bannan, an NWS meteorologist, said.
### Timing
As of 7 a.m.
Tuesday, Bertha was about 100 miles southwest of Panama City, Florida and 175 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama.
It was traveling northwest at 5 mph and producing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
Bertha should be in the southeastern coastal waters near Louisiana by sunrise Wednesday and move onshore in lower Plaquemines Parish in the afternoon, sometime after 1 p.m. or into the evening.
A storm surge watch has also been issued for the Alabama and Florida Border to the mouth of the Mississippi River in Southeast Louisiana.
Storm surge along the mouth of the Mississippi east to the Alabama-Florida border could reach between 2 and 4 feet.
The shores of Lake Pontchartrain could see storm surge reaching 1 to 3 feet.
Between 2 and 4 inches of rain could fall along the coast of southeast Louisiana through Thursday, while inland cities could see less rain.
Tornadoes associated with Bertha appear unlikely.
*This is a developing story.
Check back for updates.
*
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3speakers24%attributed speech276writer words
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100%flagged-word coverageChristopher Bannan
35 attributed words40% of attributed speech20% writer coverage
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